Did opener Dhanushka Gunatilleke who is now in the centre of a controversy over the hotel room incident really did get lured into a honey trap? Former Sri Lanka Cricket’s Anti Corruption chief Lakshman de Silva thinks so. Gunatilleke and a male friend allegedly brought two Norwegian women into a plush hotel room in Colombo [...]

Did Gunatilleke get lured into a honey trap?

By S.R. Pathiravithana

View(s):

Danushka Gunatilleke in trouble again

Did opener Dhanushka Gunatilleke who is now in the centre of a controversy over the hotel room incident really did get lured into a honey trap? Former Sri Lanka Cricket’s Anti Corruption chief Lakshman de Silva thinks so.

Gunatilleke and a male friend allegedly brought two Norwegian women into a plush hotel room in Colombo and Gunatilleke’s friend in the meantime is now accused of raping one of the women. All four individuals had spent the evening in one room.

In the aftermath, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) decided to suspend Danushka Gunathilake from six international cricket matches for breaching the ‘Player Code of Conduct and Contractual Obligation’.

Of the total six matches, three matches have been handed over for the latest violation of the ‘Player Code of Conduct and Contractual Obligation’ he has entered to with Sri Lanka Cricket. Whilst another three matches are given from a suspended sentence of one year, which Gunathilaka was already serving since 18th October, 2017, for breaching the ‘Player Contract,’ on an earlier occasion.

Gunathilaka will also not be paid the match fee for the concluded second test match which Sri Lanka played against South Africa during the ongoing tour, along with any bonus and/or other payments in connection thereto.

The sanctions will come into force with immediate effect.

When asked whether there would be any implications for Gunatilleke over the hotel room incident, de Silva said, “Certainly now it is bound to be a case study with the ICC anti-corruption unit. The ICC anti-corruption unit keeps monitoring as who the players associate with and keep a very close tab on foreign nationals especially women whom they term as honey traps. Generally the match fixers use female decoys and lure them to do what the cricketers should not be doing.

“The same player was involved in another incident in April 2017 with regard match fixing, but in that instance he brought the matter up with the anti-corruption Unit.” SLC imposed Gunathilaka a six International match suspension and a fine of 20% of his Annual Contract fee, having been found in breach of Section 30 of the SLC Constitution and several terms of his contract. Later the Lankan cricket authorities decided to revise the suspension imposed on Gunathilaka after they considered an appeal made on behalf of Gunatillekw by the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Lakshman de Silva has a different view

The Sunday Times also asked chief cricket selector Graeme Labrooy about the current controversy. We asked: “Now breaking SLC’s accepted norms is becoming common place. During the West Indies tour leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay broke the curfew rules and returned to the room the next morning sans several of his belongings which included his memory. Now in the very next series opener Dhanushka Gunatilleke is shrouded with a much serious offence and what could you do as the chief selector”?

Labrooy replied: “Officially there is nothing that I could do as the chief selector. If the authorities say a player is selected or being given the necessary clearance to be selected, it is our duty to see if he is fit and skilled to be a part of the team.

“Having said that we are a team and it is our duty to see that things work well for the national team. What I really say at this point is, that we must keep educating these players about the dangers of being involved. They even cannot bring their private masseur into the hotel room and I am aware most of the national players were not aware of that”.

He said all national players stay within a certain framework, and we work around these skills. “As selectors, coach Hathurusinghe had to do a lot of convincing to bring Gunatilleke as an opener in the Test and clearly that ploy worked and he came up with two half centuries. So he became a good investment in both forms of the game, but, now there is a reversal. Gunatilleke will probably miss the rest of the South African series as well as the Asia Cup.

“This means that the whole gamut is back in the drawing board once again. There are only a few players whom we could term as a naughty lot. Among them one player already has collected seven de-merit points with the ICC. With one more de-merit point, the player would automatically be subjected to a one Test or two ODI ban,” Labrooy said.